Warrior
by AnimeXisXmyXstyle
Summary: AU/Realistic Setting. Sasuke Uchiha is a soldier with a past. Tenten is a part of his past, present, and perhaps his future. He is accused of betraying his country that he has risked his life for countless times. How will he return honor to his name? And what part does Tenten play in all of this? Sasuke/Tenten
1. Prologue

Surprise! Four months later and i'm back! There may be slow updates but I hope to be able to update regularly.

This is an idea thats been shuffling around in my head the past week or so.

* * *

**Warrior**

_prologue _

_It wasn't raining. There wasn't a cloud in the sky except for the little black raincloud above his head. It wouldn't lift no matter how he tried. He tried repeatidly to rid himself of it. It edured through all obstacles. He learned to live with it, to embrace it. Eventually, he himself became the raincloud. Or maybe he was from the beginning._

_All Sasuke knew was that he was done getting those looks from the people around him. He was tired of the pity in their eyes, tired of the fact that they believed they knew the whole story. They didn't. They didn't know the half of it._

_He was going to find out._

_He was going to leave._

_It was far easier than one would imagine-especially the people in his town. There was something wrong, some gravitational pull that inabled the people of his town from ever leaving. All he had to do was sign his name on the dotted line. A swirvy "S" followed by a curvy "U", the letters "c-h-i-h-a" following sloppily after. It wasn't the neatest signature, and it wasn't all that creative, but it got the job done._

_He had barily gotten the cap back on the pen when the man beside him scooped up the papers and said farewell. It wasn't at all what Sasuke had been expecting._

_"I'll pick you up at three tomorrow, Sasuke."_

_That was the last time he heard his first name._

_The man was true to his word, arriving at precisely three and leaving with Sasuke in tow without delay. It was a long drive-nearly four hours-but it felt like only moments. He couldn't tell if that was a good thing or bad thing._

_No one came with him to say good-bye. No one wished him luck. No one came to see him one last time. He adjusted the bag on his back and walked in with courage he didn't feel he had. He had a roomate that night, some guy he could barely manage a conversation with. He was never the conversationalist, anyways. He preffered to be alone._

_That would change._

_The next day they woke him up at four in the morning. They carted him into a bus behind dozens of other young adults, all just as lost and confused as him. They placed him on a plane and flew him thousands of miles away._

_He was out of that town._

_He had managed to escape its clutches._

_As soon as he landed they carted him away on another bus. The next forty-eight hours of his life were hell. People yelled at him in a way he had never been yelled at before._

_In the next months, Sasuke learned a lot of things._

_He learned to always walk on the right side, right next to the wall. He learned to hold his head high and observe everything, but act like he saw nothing. He learned how to survive on little to no sleep. He learned to live without a penny to his name. He learned the importance of every miniscule detail. He learned to handle a gun, to fight his own battles. He learned respect. He learned discipline._

_Sasuke learned a lot of things, but there was one thing he forgot._

_He forgot his first name._

_You see, my dear friend. Sasuke Uchiha joined the military._

_And he had no idea how that would completely change his life._


	2. Chapter 1

_Chapters will start off short and begin to get longer as we progress._

* * *

**Chapter One**

* * *

It's unfortunate that the story will begin amongst such confusion, but there is no better place to begin it. It was the night that this disastrous ordeal occured. You see, Uchiha was being chased. It was all a huge mistake, really. They thought he defected. They thought he betrayed them.

He was fortunate enough to know the area well. The ones chasing him did not have the same advantage.

Well, except one that is. I would tell you who, but I don't want to ruin the surpise. Just wait.

A war was errupting behind him and he was running in the opposite direction. He could hear the gunshots, the sounds of metal hitting metal. He had to force himself to not turn around. Was he a coward?

Something hit him, and hit him hard. He found himself tumbling down a hill, tangling up with another body. It was dark. He couldn't see his surroundings well, but they had been trained for this. They would be able to fight with their eyes closed.

They both stood up in fighting stances, ready to take each other out.

"Uchiha!" A soft voice breathed out.

He didn't respond.

"What the hell are you doing?" She asked, looking around for her team. She wasn't sure if she wanted to find them or not. She didn't know what condition they would be in.

"I didn't defect." Their eyes met. He was begging her to believe him. He knew she had no real reason to and he had no right to ask it of her.

"Why are they saying you did?" He didn't understand how she could even think to believe him when everyone else-his own team-had immediately shot him down.

"It's a misunderstanding."

"Why not explain it to them then?" He raised an eyebrow.

Really?

His eyes said. _Do you think they'll even let me talk?_

"Fine then," she said, and he was already leaving. "But I'm going with you."

He looked back at her. His own team that he had shed his blood for wouldn't even go with him. They had only asked that he stay.

"Hurry then."

And they disappeared into the night.

* * *

_He was nothing more than a statistic. They didn't even know his name. He was referred to as "guy" or "male." He was one of fifty other males. They all wore the same t-shirt, same shorts, same socks, and even the same uggly white scivvies. They weren't people anymore. They were recruits._

_He didn't have an opinion, and certainly didn't get to speak unless spoken to previously. His only repreive in this strange place was letters. He was allowed to write once each week and send letters to whomever he pleased._

_While the other males around him were writing to their parents, girlfriends, wives, he was not. He was staring down at the blank parchment in front of him, at the pen wavering a few inches above it. Who would he write to? Who was there to write to when you had no one?_

_The only living family member he had was-no, he wouldn't write to him. He refused. Not after what he had done. Not after all of the pain he had cost him. Sasuke would never write to his older brother. He doubt he even could._

_Sasuke didn't realize that the pen was digging into the parchment and that it had ripped right through it. That was until one of **them** realized and yelled at him._

_"Writing on the ground? Drop!"_

_Sasuke was in the push-up position in only seconds. The other recruits around him were trying to watch without making it obvious._

_"One, two, three, four...!"_

_One thing he could do was do push-ups. He could handle the physical demands. This would help him in the end, he would tell himself. This was all to reach his goal._

_"Everyone on their six-packs!" Sasuke watched the other males around him through the corner of his eye. A lot of them were like him and could handle it just fine, but a lot more couldn't._

_They won't make it, he realized. They'll be sorted out. Maybe slowly at first, but it was already obvious who would not make the cut._

_Will I make the cut? Sasuke crushed that thought as soon as he had thought it. There was no way he wouldn't make it. He was born to make it. After all, it was in his blood._

_"Fifty-five, fifty-six, fifty-seven, fifty-eight...!"_

_He was slowly learning to tune out their voices, to hear the commands but not let them click. He was slowly becoming a robot and didn't even realize._

_Some nights he would wonder if he was changing. He wondered if he wanted to change. He would shrug it off. He was too tired to think about stupid shit like that._

* * *

She watched him, aware what following him meant. It meant that they would label her as they labeled him. It meant that she wouldn't be able to go home to her family anytime soon-maybe ever. So why was she doing this?

She looked at the man running beside her. Wait just a bit longer.

If she were to admit it to herself, she would have to admit it was a mixture of things. She never believed him to be a quitter or a coward. He didn't have it in him. So the fact that he was running now meant that something was really _really _wrong. He was also the person she looked up to, the person who got her to where she was now. He deserved someone to believe in him like he had believed in her.

A branch snapped in the distance and both figures immediately stopped, observing their surroundings.

"Uchiha!" The voice yelled, more animalistic than it had ever sounded before. Uzumaki stood in front of him, twigs in his hair and scratches on his face. Uchiha stood at his full height, standing taller than his rival, his friend, his teammate. "I'm not letting you go!"

Tenten took this time to fade into the background.

"I'm not going back, idiot."

"Then I'll have to drag you back!" The blond had always been too hot headed for his own good. Uchiha dropped into a fighting stance. Would he be able to hurt his own friend? To what extent would he go to accomplish his goal?

He had been asked that before. He had said, "Anything." Not giving it another thought. He wasn't so sure anymore.

Sasuke rushed toward Naruto. Tenten got there just in time, hitting the soft spot on the lower part of Uzumaki's neck. He dropped. They began running again like nothing had ever happened.

An old Tenten would have said, "We're just going to leave him there to die?"

An old Uchiha would have argued, saying, "What other option do we have?"

But the new ones knew better than to waste their breath.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

* * *

_The first day he saw her he thought she was rather plain and unextroadinary. They were standing single file in a long hallway. They weren't allowed to talk. They were supposed to keep their noses deep in their training book, but he had already read over the material several times._

_He was bored. He was curious._

_So he watched her in his peripheral vision. The girls around her were sobbing quietly, trying to put on brave faces. Hers was the only one he believed. If not for her hands in tight fists at her sides, he would have never guessed how this affected her._

_They were both shuffled into the room at the same time. They were pushed down into chairs, a soft hum and the sound of sheers were the only sounds they could hear. Sasuke wasn't being wathed for the first time in a long while, so he was able to watch her facial expression as it happened._

_The woman raised the sheers to her long hair._

Snip, snip.

_Brown locks fell the the floor, creating a half circle around the girl in the chair._

Snip, snip.

_Her eyes were fixed on a spot on the wall. They didn't waver._

Snip, snip.

_Her hair was a short, choppy mess. Her hair had been hacked off without a care. After all, she wasn't a person. She wasn't an individual. She was nothing more than a female. An easily replaced recruit._

_As she was shoved out of the room, their eyes met._

_Sasuke saw the same hunger in her eyes. He saw the same raw desire to obtain her goal._

_He had to stop himself from smirking at the now shaved-head in the mirror._

_She wasn't so plain afterall._

* * *

In the midst of the battle they were able to escape. They couldn't survive much longer without supplies, though. They would need to find a town to stock up and perhaps stay the night if they deemed it safe.

They looked at each other in their uniforms.

If they wanted to remain under the radar, those would definitely have to go. Tenten hugged the pouch on her pant's pocket, hearing the soft clink of her amo. They would have to get more discreet weapons too.

A comfortable silence fell over them as they entered the town. It was surrounded by woods on three sides so it would be easy to slip away if need be. The first hotel they came across was awful. They weren't the type of people to complain, but Uchiha wouldn't have been surprised if cockroaches scurried across the floor.

The second hotel they found was a bit fancy for their liking, but the pair had been traveling for forty-eight hours without rest and the cost was worth it. They remained completely professional when they ripped of their blouses and boots, even when they undid their belts and removed their pants. They remained professional as they lay in the same bed, wearing nothing but t-shirts and underwear.

They were too tired to think about it.

They woke up at the break of dawn as soon as the sunlight began to shine through their window. Systematically, they put their clothes back on and prepared for the day.

"This will be headquarters for now," Uchiha explained. Tenten nodded.

"It won't take them long to realize you're gone."

"I'm prepared for that."

"You can still go back. Say that you were a hostage."

"I'm not going anywhere."

"I don't want you here." Tenten finally looked at him. She scooted close, so she could invade his personal space and look him squarely in the eyes.

"I'm. Not. Going. Anywhere." The Uchiha huffed and moved off the bed, placing his various weapons back into the pouches on his uniform.

"Hn."

"Besides," she muttered to herself, foldering her arms in front of her. "I know you don't want to do this alone. You're just too macho to say so."

Uchiha didn't give any indication if her heard her or not. She decided that was probably for the better.

"We need to work on disguises. Your hair has to go."

"What?" The girl gaffawed. "But it's finally long again!"

It was his turn to cross his arms out in front of him.

"Fine," she mumbled. "Then you have to grow a beard."

He shot her a piercing glare.

"You're the one they're technically looking for anyways. And you can't keep up that military haircut. It has to go too."

"Very well," he said, pulling the laces of his boot tight and knotting them with ease. "Let's go."

She felt weird looking at the various articles of namebrand clothing on the rack. She looked at the blond barbie beside her.

"What?" She nearly spat. The girl turned away to look at another rack. Tenten blamed her attitude on the lack of proper sleep and current circumstances, refusing to believe it was because the girl made the female population look bad in her skimpy clothing and high heels.

In the end, Tenten couldn't make herself buy anything "normal" and uncomfortable. She was used to wearing unisex clothing. Her new outfit was plenty girly. She waited in line patiently and had to force herself to relax her posture, to blend in. She looked across the store to see Uchiha maintaining a perfectly neutral face as he selected his clothes. She imagined he had a scarily good poker face.

"Have a nice day, ma'am!" The cashier sing-songed. Tenten opened her mouth to say, "I am not a ma'am! I work for a living!" But grit her teeth together just in time, so that all that came out was a grunt similiar to the one Uchiha tended to give when he had nothing to say.

She waited patiently by the door for him to finish his purchase. He looked down at the bags in her hands, then back up to her. "Ready?"

"Just need to pick up a pair of sheers," she sighed. She sighed when she soon realized "sheers" to Uchiha meant "everyday scissors." She felt like she was in bootcamp all over again. At least she could try to make the hairstyle work for her. She'd done it before, she supposed.

They made it back to the hotel at a pace much too fast for the regular civillian. It didn't help that they walked in step as they did so. They really needed to work on their blending skills.

Tenten followed Uchiha into the room. He was immediately changing into his new clothes. She'd seen many naked men in her profession. She'd seen a lot of things she wished she could unsee...like STD's and their effects. But she couldn't help but look at him a second or two longer than necessary. He was turned around so she could only see his back. His shoulders immediately caught her attention. She was a shoulders girl, and man, did he have shoulders!

She blinked a few times and made herself turn away. Professionalism is key.

She grabbed her own bag and looked down into it, still unhappy with her choice.

She stood in front of the mirror in the bathroom, scissors in her hand. She let her hair down from its perfectly made sock bun.

"It's taken me years to grow you back out," she told it sadly. "I'll miss you."

"Stop being so dramatic," Uchiha sighed in the doorway.

"You don't understand how hard I've worked for this hair!"

"It grows back. Stop being such a girl."

"I _am_ a girl! At least I don't wine about growing a beard!" Uchiha's hand went up to rub his face, sharp hairs prickling his skin.

"It's weird. I don't like the feel."

Tenten took a deep breath.

_Snip, snip._

She bolted her eyes shut. Uchiha sighed.

"I don't want to see it," she told him as he took the scissors from her hand.

_Snip, snip._

She was being such a girl. She was stronger than this.

_Snip, snip._

Uchiha wouldn't really judge her for it. It was one part of herself she wanted to keep. He blamed himself for making her give it up. They had already given so much of themselves up. What would happen when they had nothing left to give?

_Snip, snip._

She knew her answer. She would give up everything, her very life to protect her country, to protect her family. She finally opened her eyes. Her eyes roamed the mirror before meeting his. He was standing behind her, scissors still in his hands.

"It's not bad," she told him, her hand exploring her missing locks.

"It's cute," he told her, letting his mask drop enough to show her a crooked smile. She didn't know whether it was a real smile or a fake one, but she knew she didn't mind her haircut as much anymore.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

* * *

_It was Sunday, which meant it was the day the recruits were allowed to write to their family members. He looked down at the blank paper to his side. Would he finally use it? _

_Before he could talk himself out of it, he scribbled a few sentences down and shoved it into an envelope._

_"I still hate you. This letter doesn't change anything. Nothing can change what you did."_

_Mail call came and went. For some reason, the Uchiha felt more relaxed. He felt better. Yes, he felt angry. He felt vengeful. But for the first time in weeks, he felt alive. _

_He was surprised that night when he was dropped on his face for receiving a letter. _

_"One, two, three, four...!"_

_Who would have written to him? He knew his brother did not even know his address, let alone have the necessary supplies to write to him._

_"Nine, ten, eleven, twelve...!"_

_Hope bubbled in his chest, but he squashed it like a fly. There was no hope, only stubborn will-power. Hope would not get him through this. Hope would not lead him to his dream._

_"Twenty! You're lucky it was only one letter...!"_

_The letter was thrown at him and he had to wait to scuffle over to get it. He lifted it gently and went to sit back in front of his bed. The letter was plain white, his name clearly written without the proper mailing address._

_"Jiro Tenten," __was written for the return name and a strange address followed. Who was this stranger writing him? He opened the letter, the same plain paper he wrote the letter to his brother on. His bunkmate was peaking over at his letter curiously. Uchiha never got mail._

_He scowled at him and turned so the other male couldn't see it. It was none of that assholes business._

"Dear Uchiha,

I know you don't know who I am and I'd rather it stay that way, although I won't say exactly why. You probably are wondering why this random person is writing to you. I would tell you but I haven't quite figured it out yet. It's cold at night. So cold that I'll pull my blanket over my face and think about how hot it must be back home. I left it for a reason. You must have too. Why did you leave home, Uchiha?"

_It would be the start of many strange letters._

* * *

Tenten glanced in the mirror and then back at Uchiha. She knew a lot more about him than she expected he knew about her, though one could never be sure with him. She was a private person. She didn't like mixing her personal life with her work. The line between the two was getting quite grey. What they were doing, why they were running was personal. They might not ever be able to return home. She wouldn't risk putting her family in danger.

_Uchiha doesn't have to worry about that, _she thought sadly. _He doesn't have anyone._

"Alright," he said, breaking the staring contest the two had going on. He left the bathroom and headed into the main area of the hotel. They would have to talk about what happened eventually. He was just going to wait as long as physically possible. He didn't want to have that talk.

He looked in the bathroom doorway to see Tenten still inspecting her hair in the mirror. It was a longer pixie haircut that made her big brown eyes more dominant on her face. Her skin was lightly tanned compared to his pale complexion. He looked at his own form in the mirror. Black hair and grey eyes so dark they would seem black. Hard, angular facial features next to her soft ones. She caught his staring. He quickly turned away.

"We need to start addressing each other by our first names. Last names are too obvious."

"I agree," she said as she moved to sit on the couch. Her time of mourning years of dedication and patience with her hair was over. She would not linger on it again.

"You may call me Sasuke," he said, the name feeling odd on his lips.

"And you may call me Kaori," she said with a smile that revealed dimples. He hadn't seen her smile in a while. Not since he murdered her fiancé. He didn't deserve it directed at him. He turned away.

"We should head out soon. Pack up what you have. We'll stop and pick up some supplies before heading out of town. We can't stay anywhere too long." With a nod, the two fell into comfortable silence. Sasuke thought back to the only day he'd seen her cry. Kaori thought back to the day he held her while she cried.

They had both been through way too much shit in their lives to be twenty-four and twenty-three.

"Alright," Sasuke said, breaking her out of her thoughts. "Let's go."

They packed their bags with what little items they had. Kaori fixed her maroon sweater as she pulled on her strange-feeling backpack. It was so light compared to what she was used to. She looked down at her dark washed skinny jeans and her low-top converse. She felt like she was eighteen again.

Sasuke wore a white hoodie with black-colored jeans and a pair of red and black skater shoes. She had never seen him in civilian clothing. This was another side of him she had never seen.

They stopped at a car dealership. "How may I help you today, sir?"

"How much for that car right there?" He pointed to a black mustang. The salesperson looked at Sasuke and Kaori, sizing them up and deciding how much money he could get out of them.

"Ah, you have a good eye I see. That is brand new, never even been on a test drive. Because of all the detailing—" Sasuke cut him off.

"Will this be enough?" He plopped stacks of hundreds down on the desk. The salesman looked around him for his fellow employees.

"Keep the extra. I don't have time to fill out paperwork. Will that be a problem?"

"Not at all," the man said as he scooped up the money and handed them a set of keys.

"A pleasure doing business with you today."

"I can't say the same," Sasuke spoke before leading Kaori over to the car.

"Where are we going now?" He took it out of park and pulled it out of the dealership.

"We're going to find who set me up." They sped down the highway.

"I have a friend that specialized in finding people. We can trust him."

"Where to?"

* * *

They pulled up to a guarded gate. "Can I help you?" Security asked them.

"I'm here to see Mr. Hyuuga," Kaori said as she sat up in her seat so the security guard could see her.

"Miss Tenten?"

"Yes, Chouji. It's been a while." The bigger man smiled at her. She had always been his favorite visitor of the man he worked for.

"It has. I'm sure Neji will be happy to see you," he said as he pressed open a button to open the gate. "Where have you been these last couple years?"

"Around," she told him, dimples showing. "I wouldn't want to bore you with the details. Thank you, Chouji."

"No problem, ma'am." He waved to Kaori and nodded at Sasuke. Sasuke nodded back.

"You didn't tell me he was filthy rich," Sasuke spoke as they drove on a brick road up to a mansion, giant fountain in front.

"It wasn't relevant."

"That's not for you to decide." Kaori looked over at him with scrunched up eyebrows. He was being rotten.

"What is your problem? What did I do?"

"Leaving out details and making decisions on your own gets others killed."

"Oh, talking from experience, are you?" Sasuke stopped the car and turned to look out of the window. Kaori realized how what she said had affected him.

"I didn't mean—"

"We're here," Sasuke said and opened his door. She bit her lip, opening the door and shutting it lightly behind her. She raced up to catch up with his long strides.

"Look, I'm sorry. Sometimes I don't think and—" Large double doors opened up in front of them.

"Welcome to the Hyuuga Estate," an older man in a suit spoke, motioning for them to come in. "Mr. Hyuuga is waiting for you in the left wing, if you would please follow me."

"Yes, sir." Kaori looked over at Sasuke discreetly as they were walking. She would need to properly apologize later. This wasn't going to be the end of this discussion. Something had completely changed his mood and he got an arrogant attitude with her. She had not seen that in a long, _long _time. She needed to know what had caused it.

Sasuke looked over at her, their eyes meeting, before looking back in front of him. His face was completely emotionless and showed no signs of them arguing only moments before. She hoped her face wasn't still red with anger.

The doors in front of them opened, light assaulting them from all angles. A figure rose from a chair in front of them. This was the moment Sasuke had been dreading. The moment he would have to meet him again. The moment he would have to face his mistakes.

"Tenten," a male's voice said. Tears stung her eyes, though she refused to let them fall. She ran up to him and hugged him. He placed his hands gently at the curve of her back.

"Neji, it's been so long! I missed you so much." Dark hair cascaded down his back, much too long of a hairstyle to be ordinary in the civilian world. He wore loose white pants and shirt with nothing on his feet. Sasuke realized the Chinese style floor.

"Have you been well, Tenten?"

"Yes—very."

"Who do you have with you?" The man finally turned in Sasuke's direction. Guilt punched Sasuke in the stomach. Pale eyes faced his direction—eyes that would never see again because of him.

"This is Sasuke," Kaori spoke as she linked her arms with Neji's and lead him over to Sasuke. He was glad that she had used his first name, not his last. He was glad that the other man couldn't recognize him. He would surely have known had he been able to see his face. He would have known the face of a murderer.

"A pleasure to meet you Sasuke," he said as he put out a hand for him to shake. He was as formal and proper as always. Sasuke grasped it firmly.

"Similarly," Sasuke spoke before they broke apart.

"He has a man's handshake," Neji told Tenten, head facing her direction but not looking quite at her. Her heart was squeezing inside her chest. This is why she hadn't visited in so long. It broke her inside to see her dear friend this way. She was a coward. She ran away. "I would hold on tightly to this one. He's a keeper."

Two pairs of sad eyes met, both too emotional to get embarrassed about what Neji had just implied. He had assumed that they had a more than professional relationship—which they did not. She struggled with the fact that the broken man in front of her had once been one of the strongest men she knew. She looked up to him and sought to be like him. He would just laugh and pat her on the head.

Now he was merely a ghost of his former self. His eyesight was gone and his body was broken. He couldn't walk without a limp, and certainly couldn't walk any great distances. He used to run four miles daily. He couldn't see anything. He used to be one of the best marksmen she knew. Worst of all, he couldn't do what he had loved and had been willing to die for. He couldn't fight for his country.


	5. Chapter 4

_A/N: First off I want to say that the events and plot in this story are in no way my views but are a fictional storyline to engage the readers. Next I want to say that I am having way too much fun with writer's privileges and the Naruto cast. Finally, I would like to say that I had watch from midnight to four last night and woke up extra early this morning to finish this chapter for all of my lovely (mostly silent) readers. Please ignore the mistakes...I'm working on an hour and a half of sleep here. Please feel free to review to let me know your opinion on the current happenings. Also, story predictions are always fun. I like to know what picture I'm painting for my readers. Enjoy, lovelies! _

* * *

**Chapter Four**

* * *

_A gun was shoved into their hands and they were told to shoot at the target. He held the gun in position, careful to not get a beretta bite, and took a deep breath. He could do this. If he couldn't, he didn't deserve his family name. If he couldn't, he didn't deserve to be there._

_"Two shots in four seconds...!"_

_The lights came on._

_Shots echoed._

_The lights dimmed._

_The Uchiha didn't smirk when he saw that he made perfect shots. No, he maintained perfect military baring. The little boy in him was jumping for joy._

_"Four shots dominant, four shots non__-__dominant, in twenty seconds...!"_

_The lights came on._

_Someone's scream echoed in the distance._

_The lights dimmed. _

_He looked through the corner of his eye to see another male beside him that had crossed his hands around the back of the gun. Blood dripped down his hand. He had gotten himself a beretta bite. __They __immediately took his gun away and escorted him off of the range. That guy didn't make it. _

_The lights came on. _

_Shots echoed._

_The lights dimmed._

_He looked at his target and the targets of the people beside him. The one to his left was decent. Too bad for that guy head shots weren't worth as much as one directly in the chest. He looked to the one to the right, seeing a mess of shots scattered across the paper. _

_His eyes met cerulean blue beside him._

_The Uchiha's were empty. He was maintaining the perfect "thousand yard stare." The blond beside him was not. He was scared, but more so angry. He grit his teeth and turned his eyes back onto the target._

_He had seen a fire in his eyes._

_He wasn't sure if he liked that or hated that._

_He decided he didn't like the blond with the little whiskers of facial hair._

* * *

Sasuke was trying hard to not get sucked up in the flashbacks he kept having. _A brown haired man with a freshly trimmed head of hair, faded on the sides and just a tad bit longer on the top. Intelligent green eyes showed that the "pretty boy" was more than just looks. He meant business._

Sasuke blinked, pushing his face into his hands. He should have let the medical staff give him a proper pysch evaluation when he got back. He should have had them treat his PTSD when he started showing signs and symptoms a few months later. But one thing Sasuke was not is humble. He was a proud man who refused to accept his shortcomings.

He refused to accept he was a murder—for a while at least. He couldn't meet his own eyes in the mirror after he finally did.

Someone sat down on the couch beside him. He didn't look. He didn't want to look. If it was Neji he would just feel even guiltier then he felt at the moment. If it was Kaori he was sure they would pick up where their argument had left off.

A cool hand pulled one of his hands away from his face and gripped it tightly. He shuddered at the touch. He moved to pull away, but the tough girl beside him would have none of it. He looked at her through one eye. He hadn't had physical contact in years.

"Kaori—"

"Sh," she told him, motioning to the window with her free hand. He dropped the hand on his face and looked out the balcony window in front of him. The sun was setting, beautiful oranges and pinks spread across the skyline. "The world is so beautiful. Sometimes we forget to look. We take it for granted. Then…t-then we lose it and realize how lucky we were."

Sasuke did as instructed and kept his mouth firmly shut. If there was one thing he was good at except killing people, it would be following orders. He had to fight the urge to turn and watch the emotions pass across her face.

"Neji is on the phone now with someone trying to get information for us."

"Thank you," Sasuke said, swallowing his pride. That is something he had learned in the past five years. Granted, he had to learn the hard way.

"I'm sorry I exploded on you earlier," she said, subconsciously grazing her free hand across the back of his. The sensation sent goose bumps up his arms and the hairs to stick up at the back of his neck.

"I'm sorry I became the way I did earlier. The memories were particularly vivid today." She squeezed his hand. He turned his head to look at her. She was looking down at her lap.

"I'm here," is all she said when she looked up at him again. She didn't clarify what exactly she meant. Instead, she went back to staring out the window, the sun low on the horizon now. He didn't know if she meant "I'm here if you need me" or "I'm not going anywhere." He didn't know if she meant physically or mentally. Hell, he didn't know what the hell the brunette beside him meant!

But those simple words made him feel better. He looked back at the sunset, relishing in the warmth between their conjoined hands.

"Tenten," Neji walked in the room. She bolted up to a standing position, Sasuke's hand long forgotten. "I may have a lead for you."

* * *

Kaori pulled him into a tight hug. "Don't wait so long to visit next time," Neji spoke into her hair.

"I won't. I promise. I would have come if I could." Sasuke observed the pair. Kaori was lying. He was pretty sure Neji knew too. They pulled apart but Neji held onto her hands.

"I'm no replacement, Ten. But I will always be here for you." She looked at her best friend with sad eyes and a perfectly emotionless face. She knew he was only saying it for her, only offering it for her benefit. She wouldn't let him suffer trying to pick up her broken pieces and patch her back together.

"That means everything to me, but I'm fine. I'm married to my job, Neji."

"Yes, I know," he said as he dropped her hands. Sasuke stood, leaning up against his car, and wondered how the two had gotten so close. It wasn't a romantic relationship; it was the best friendship two people could ask for. He had ruined that for them. How many fuck ups had he made? How many lives had he ruined? How many lives had he taken?

"I have to get going," she told him, placing her hand on his arm. "Thank you for all of your help. We wouldn't have been able to do it without you."

"Hopefully my lead is accurate. You can never tell these days."

"It's a step in the right direction at least," she said positively. "Thank you. Tell Hiashi that I say hello." The Hyuuga nodded.

"He has been very ill as of late."

"His cancer is back?"

"It had spread further than they had originally believed."

"He'll pull through," she said reassuringly. "He is a strong, proud man. He will pull through again."

"I don't know how many more times he can pull through. After his daughter's wedding…I'm afraid he won't have to the same willpower."

"Only time shall tell. Perhaps he is ready to rest after all he has been through."

"Perhaps he is. I cannot blame him."

"Nor can I."

"Kaori!" Sasuke called, making the brunette turn toward him. Her eyes showed their thanks for saving her from an increasingly awkward situation. Death was suddenly such a touchy subject for all of them. "We'll run out of daylight if we wait much longer!"

"Ah, yes. Coming!" She turned back to Neji and planted a kiss on his cheek. She was overly touchy with the young man because of his blindness. She wanted to remind him that she was there for him. "Goodbye, Neji. I will visit again soon."

"Goodbye, Ten," he spoke as she turned and made her way to Sasuke's car. It was a sad moment for all three of them. Sasuke was racked with guilt and memories, Kaori was lying to her best friend, and said best friend knew it.

They drove off, Kaori waving at Chouji as they left through the gates. The cheerful man waved back at them, eyes crinkled from smiling so hard. Kaori felt her heart clench painfully in her chest. It was easier to avoid the memories, the pain. It was easier to run away from it and distract yourself. That way you wouldn't feel the immense guilt and sadness that came with remembering it.

They drove all day, alternating between passenger and driver. When night fell, the two finally decided to take a break and rent a hotel. They had covered enough ground thus far to rest—for now at least. Sasuke knew they were still being tracked. They knew they would be found out soon enough. They might as well rest now while they had a chance.

They got one room with two queen-sized beds. They took turns taking showers and crawling into bed. Kaori's soft breathing could be heard within minutes. Sasuke stared up at the ceiling. What life would Neji be living now if not for him? Would he be happily married? Would he still be in the military?

Sasuke fell asleep to thoughts plagued with what if's…

* * *

"_Now remember, they have nuclear capability. We can't forget that."_

"_They won't use it," Uchiha argued, pointing to a spot on the map in front of him. "There is too much civilization around them. They wouldn't waste all those lives."_

"_We don't know what the enemy will and will not do."_

"_We'll attack from three sides," Uchiha spoke, ignoring the other man. "We'll force them to push back and corner them here at this town. There we'll have another team set up waiting to take out the ones that are left."_

"_It's a good plan," the other man finally agreed._

_Uchiha was the team captain. He looked at the men huddled in the tent around him. They were his best men. He had shed his blood with them, fought right beside them. They were his team, his responsibility. He loved each and every one of them like family. _

"_We'll head out midmorning. Have the Humvees packed and ready to go."_

_The men dispersed around him, readying to prepare for battle in the morning. He ran a hand through his lengthening hair. It was hard to keep up on haircuts while being deployed. He turned off the lamp next to the map and made his way over to his makeshift bed. Tomorrow they would be messing with a sticky situation. Right now, they weren't "at war" per say. It wasn't declared, but it was happening. _

_What felt like seconds after closing his eyes, Uchiha was awakened by one of his men. "It's morning, captain." _

_He pushed himself up and quickly pulled his blouse on over his shirt, ignoring the fact that he had worn it for several days now. There wasn't time to wash clothes when you were deployed. Bathing was a privilege they often were not blessed with._

_They pulled out at mid-morning just as Uchiha said. He sat in the Humvee with his radio person driving and the medic in the back. Today they were going to change the course of this unofficial war. They were going to save lives. _

_Everything went wrong._

_It all happened within ten minutes._

_Uchiha was with the group attacking head on to force the enemy troops to retreat right into their trap. They had much more fire power than their enemies. Within only moments they were calling a tactical retreat. His face was perfectly emotionless as the enemy walked right into his trap._

"_We owe you one, boss!" the driver yelled over the sounds of gunshots. They drove the enemy further and further back until they were in the town that his other men were already positioned in._

"_Make it rain__," Uchiha spoke over the radio. _

_Bullets rained._

_That's when something metallic caught his eye. A ka-bar?_

_A man stood in the middle of all the chaos, eyes meeting Uchiha's. In his hand was a large suitcase._

_No!_

_Uchiha wasn't sure if he only thought that or if he screamed it too. It didn't matter._

"_Retreat! Retreat now!"_

_The man smirked before letting it drop to the ground. Uchiha leapt behind the Humvee, taking the doc and the radioman with him. They hit the ground with a hard thud. _

_Seconds later it happened. _

_They could do nothing but lay there._

_Uchiha could do nothing but cover the two men he could reach._

_Their ears rang. Everything was blurry. _

_Uchiha rose as best he could, vomiting on the ground beside him. He felt incredibly weak. What had once been a town in front of him was no more. The suitcase nuke had done its intended job._

_He rushed into the scene, paying no mind to all of the warning alarms in his mind screaming, "Radiation, idiot!" The men closest to the blast died on impact. Those further away were seriously injured._

"_Doc, we've got life over here!"_

_The medic rushed in after him. Uchiha checked over the bodies of his men. A hand grabbed his leg._

"_Uchiha," the voice said. He immediately crouched down next to the other man, assessing his wounds the best he could._

"_Doc, I've got a majorly injured one over here!"_

"_Copy! Are we tactical triaging or non-tactical?" The Uchiha looked down at the man struggling to stay alive in front of him._

"_Non-tactical. Deal with the life-threatening ones first. The enemy took themselves out."_

"_Copy that." Uchiha gripped the man's arm._

"_Stick with me, soldier."_

"_It was so sudden! I didn't have the time…the time to look away! It was so bright!" Uchiha looked into the man's now pale blue-colored eyes that had once been a piercing green._

"_It may just be flash blindness," he reassured him falsely. "It will go away in thirty minutes or so."_

"_I want to see my girl again." The doc finally arrived and started to deal with the immediate life threats._

"_We'll get you home to her. What's your name, soldier?"_

"_Hyuuga, captain. Neji Hyuuga."_


	6. Chapter 5

_It's been a busy couple of weeks. I finally finished basic nursing and got a 92 on my first intermediate nursing test! Hope you enjoy the direction this story is going in!_

* * *

**Chapter Five**

* * *

_He wrote to him every night, though he didn't know why. It wasn't like he would write anything deep or meaningful. He would scribble a few sentences down and wait until the next Sunday to send it. He would then wait precisely five days to get another letter. Jiro wrote to him on a strict schedule, the day it came in never wavering. Uchiha grew to like Fridays for this very reason._

"Jiro,

It's none of your business. Why are you writing me?

Food sucked today.

Had to drop today for some idiot. He was found sleeping in the bathroom.

I'm counting down the days now. I made a calendar and cross it off each night.

I'm glad it's as cold there as it is here.

What is the real reason for your writing me? People don't do things without reason. Who are you, Jiro?

I joined because there's a reputation following my clan that I need to crush. There's something I need to do…lives I need to avenge.

-Uchiha"

_He got a letter that Thursday._

"Uchiha,

I have yet to get a letter back but that is probably due to the horrible mail system here. I'm really craving something terribly unhealthy for me. I've been eating well lately. It's weird. I miss home terribly. Do you ever wonder if you're changing? If this life is slowly changing who you are and when your family sees you again, they will barely recognize you? What if they don't like the new you? This whole place is made to break you down to your core so they can build you up the way they want to. They're making us into warriors. We're all from different cities, states—hell, some of us are from different countries! We're all from different stages and walks of life and their job is to make us into the perfect warrior for our country. Are we changing, Uchiha? Do we want to change? Will I be able to look at my reflection in the mirror if my little sister can't even bare to look at me? Will I be able to live with myself?"

_It wasn't strange for a recruit to be thinking that. It was quite ordinary. They were changing and some people were not prepared for it. Some people wouldn't be able to handle it. Some people might even request to go home. He felt a sudden protective instinct for the young man writing him. Is this what being an older sibling felt like? And if so, why did his older brother not feel it for him?_

"Jiro,

We're meant to change. We can't do our job properly if we don't let them mold us. Your family will accept you in any form of yourself. We will change. We'll be tougher around the edges after this, but we need that. We're about to do things that we can't be soft for. We're going to take lives. We just need to remind ourselves while we do that…we need to remind ourselves who we are doing it for. We're not doing it for ourselves and only partially doing it for our country. In the end, we're really doing it for our loved ones. I'm not unrealistic enough to believe that I would lay down my life for a complete stranger. I would, however, give it up tenfold to have my family again. So yes, I will become the "perfect" warrior for my country. I will follow every order. I will be exactly what they wish me to be. That's our purpose now. We must either accept it or accept the fact that we cannot handle this lifestyle."

_Sending that letter two days later was strange. Uchiha held it firmly in his grip. Did he really want to send something so personal? The person in charge of mail noticed the letter in his hand and began to walk over to him. He didn't know anything about this Jiro person except for the fact that he was a fellow recruit somewhere, maybe not even on this base. _

_"Got mail, Uchiha?" _

_"No," the Uchiha hissed, venom dripping from his words. "This is really just a love letter for you." _

_"Hey!" A voice yelled behind him. He turned to the blond who was steadily walking up to him. "Don't talk to him like that, bastard!"_

_"Didn't mean to insult your boyfriend, Uzumaki," Sasuke retorted, crossing his arms out in front of him. Uzumaki stumbled over a few words, mouth open and gaping like a fish, before he was able to maintain himself._

_"He is not my boyfriend!" The blond was easily sidetracked._

_"Your late night endeavors state otherwise." The blond's face turned beat red. If it had been a comic book he would have had smoke pouring from his ears, and have grown monster teeth and a tail. Uchiha had never seen someone explode so extensively._

_"You don't know my life!" Uzumaki yelled before rushing at the Uchiha. "You don't know what I've been through!" The two young men tumbled to the ground upon impact. Uzumaki went for a punch to the face which Uchiha blocked by squirming over to the side several inches. He retaliated with a punch to the gut. Uzumaki gasped at the contact. Uchiha was no stranger to street fighting. He would not play fair. _

_"Get off me now and I won't damage your reputation any further—whatever you have left, anyways." Uchiha thought he was being quite fair, really. He was giving the guy a chance to back out now that he knew what he was messing with. _

_"I. NEVER. GIVE. UP!" The Uzumaki yelled, managing to land a punch to the Uchiha's jaw. Blood trickled from a broken lip. It was done. The Uchiha was seeing red. If it were a comic book, Uzumaki would have sworn the Uchiha's eyes were red and narrowed._

_Uchiha pushed the other man off of him. Uzumaki stumbled a few steps before managing to right himself. Uchiha didn't let him recompose himself. He punched the blond squarely in the face, sending him falling to the ground. He was out like a light bulb._

_"Don't fucking mess with me," Uchiha said to the rest of the room who was avidly watching the entire fight. He stalked off to his rack to get his bottle of water. He knew he would be put on his face later for this fight, but it had felt good. Weeks of stress and tension were relieved in a matter of moments. Yes, he decided. It was definitely worth whatever consequences would follow._

_He completely forgot about the letter sitting on the ground._

* * *

Sasuke and Kaori were on their way to Texas when they were pulled over by the local authorities. The siren wailed in the distance and Sasuke checked his rearview mirror before letting out a soft "shit." Kaori swiveled around in her seat to look out the back window. He was definitely indicating for them to pull over.

"I think we should just pull over, Sasuke," she said, his first name feeling strange and unfamiliar on her tongue.

"They'll recognize us if there's already search warrants out for us."

"I haven't seen anything on the news."

"We defected, Ten. Do you think they'll just let us go?" He asked as he looked over at her. She turned away from him. He had picked up Neji's nickname for her—a nickname that held too much past for her.

"So what are we going to do then? Try to outrun a cop?"

"Not try," Sasuke spoke as he tightened his grip on the stick. She turned back around to watch the police car. The cop sped up to keep Sasuke's pace. Sasuke weaved in out of traffic on the thruway. She watched him, fascinated, as he drove like a nascar driver.

"Have you done this before?"

He chuckled.

"Yeah, but last time I wasn't the insurgent." They screeched to a stop, Kaori throwing her hands out in front of her out of instinct. He accelerated, and they were off again. She and Sasuke had come from very, _very _different walks of life. That was obvious even if she hadn't already known that.

"Where are you from, Sasuke?" He looked over at her and laughed.

"I don't think this is the best time to talk deep and personal."

"It's just a question," she stated, looking out the window as the cars zoomed by behind her. "I'm from a small town where everyone knows everyone. Trying to keep a secret there is like trying not to breath."

He checked the rear-view mirror, red and blue lights still blinking behind him. "Did you have a pet cow?" Kaori laughed.

"Not that little! We had streets and tanning salons and cars!"

He didn't reply at first. Kaori felt adrenaline pounding in her ears. She was no stranger to its intoxicating affects. It was like a drug to her system, something she couldn't live without now that she had gotten so used to having it.

He didn't look like he felt the same way. She watched as he skidded to the left, barely missing a motorcyclist he hadn't seen. This was the small amount of time she could openly study him. The adrenaline seemed to have no effect on him. Did she look like that beside him?

Kaori had known the Sasuke of five years ago. She had even known the Sasuke of three years ago. But she did not know this Sasuke in front of her. What had happened in those three years that brought him to where he was now? He was labeled a traitor by his country. He was labeled a spy. Was he? Why was she placing such trust in a man that she did not even know anymore?

Because looking at his hard jaw, his sharp features, his utter lack of visible emotion, she was reminded of the boy from the letters. She was reminded of someone that was lost and desperately looking for answers.

"Why did you join the military, Sasuke?" she asked, careful to show no emotion in her voice. Sasuke's eyes didn't leave the road, but his knuckles turned white from the pressure he was exerting on the steering wheel.

"I wanted to be less selfish."

His answer had changed.

Kaori looked back as the cop car slowly faded from sight, Sasuke making a hard right. Had hers? They were on a long strip of open highway and Sasuke took the chance to look over at her for just a second. Expressions were passing across her face at rapid fire—sadness, happiness, pain, love, and finally is settled on a soft smile.

"We had no idea what we were signing up for, did we?" she said with a laugh.

"No," he replied, stealing another short look in her direction. "No, we didn't."

* * *

_Uchiha was still somewhat new at his current command. He had gotten there several months ago. Being at such a big command, it wasn't a surprise when he saw someone he didn't know. All of the nurses in the hospital were talking about a guy like he was a god. How had he not heard of this guy before?_

_"Who is that?" The blond next to him followed his gaze._

_"You haven't heard of him?" Uchiha shot Uzumaki a look. Obviously he hadn't if he was asking._

_"That's Masato. He was meritoriously promoted twice. He's never even taken an advancement exam. And, as you can tell, girls go crazy around him." Uchiha was used to be fawned over. He was used to turning down females. He wasn't used to having competition._

_He watched Masato as he sat down on one of the beds, a nurse rushing in with a clipboard in her hands. She placed the clipboard on the side table as she wiped her sweaty hands on her pants. The guy was tall, taller than Uchiha. He had deep brown eyes and dark hair cut short. The nurse said something to him and he smiled huge at her._

_"Why are they so obsessed with him?"_

_"You mean, why are they flocking over him rather than you?" Uzumaki said. Uchiha shot him a look. _

_"He's one of the most genuinely nice guys I've ever met." And you're definitely not, Uzumaki didn't finish. Uchiha watched as Masato took off his shirt to show rock hard abs, and slightly tanned skin. _

_"What it must be like to have a body like that," Uzumaki sighed. Uchiha grimaced at him._

_"Stop being gross, idiot," Uchiha said as he pushed off of the wall he had been leaning against, and headed toward the front desk of the clinic._

_"I'm straight!" Uzumaki yelled after him. His dark-haired friend ignored him. "Seriously!" He rushed to catch up to the taller man's longer strides. "Sakura said yes."_

_"Sakura?"_

_"Haruno," Uzumaki corrected. Uchiha hadn't used first names in a very long time._

_"Oh. Congratulations."_

_"She's not going to re-enlist." Uchiha looked at the blond beside him._

_"But she loves it here."_

_"She said it wouldn't be worth it to give up a family."_

_"You?" Uchiha laughed, a little too bitter to be considered friendly. "A father?"_

_Uzumaki shot him a dead-pan look. "There are more ridiculous things."_

_"Yes, but none of them are likely. Just imagine how ugly your children will be." Uzumaki grit his teeth, but managed to bite down his tongue. His best friend had his moments. If you knew him well enough, which no one else did, you would know it was not Uchiha. Not the real Uchiha, at least. He's been through a lot. He was really fucked up, actually. Uzumaki couldn't understand how he passed the psych exam to join, but he was one of the best soldiers he ever fought with. There was an unbreakable will behind his many masks._

_"I hope they get her strawberry blond hair," Uzumaki said honestly. "I love her hair."_

_"Save it for after work hours," Uchiha said with disgust. "Don't vomit all your lovey dovey shit all over me."_

_"Wouldn't dream of it," Uzumaki mumbled as Uchiha walked away, burying himself in paperwork._


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

* * *

_Uchiha was assigned to a new team—a team of elite. He was recommended by his commanding officer and he had never felt so proud of all of his hard work. All of the long hours he spent in the hospital, all of the time he spent off duty honing his skills, and all of the things he had missed out on to be where he was._

_"Uchiha, this is Masato. He will be your team captain," his commanding officer said. Masato and Uchiha looked each other up and down before Masato put out his hand. Uchiha used all of his strength to shake his hand firmly—a man's handshake. _

_"You'll do just fine here," Masato said with a smile and a laugh, releasing the other man's hand. Uchiha noticed the ring on his left hand._

_"Married?" he asked._

_"No, not married—engaged. It makes my fiancé feel better when I show that I'm off the market."_

_"Are you?" Instead of getting offended, Masato only laughed._

_"I've been off the market since the day I met her." Uchiha hid his grimace at the man's corny words. How could a man this distracted with this weird emotion be effective on the battlefield? Masato looked at the young man in front of him, deciding that there was a lot he had left to learn._

_Masato decided right then that he was going to take the damaged young man under his wing and show him how beautiful the world could be._

_"I would like you to meet me and the guys at the bar tonight so you can meet the rest of the team. They'll be anxious to size you up. They'll puff out their chests and try to be intimidating. Say, how well can you hold your liquor?"_

_Uchiha smirked._

_"Better than any of them."_

* * *

Sasuke was hunched over the bed, looking much smaller than he actually was. Kaori watched him with sad eyes. They had given up a piece of themselves for this life. Some, like Sasuke, had given even more. He was by no means a twig. Muscles outlined his whole body. That's what made the image in front of her even worse.

He sat with his legs hanging off the bed, staring down into nothingness. Five o'clock shadow lined his jaw. His hair stuck out every which way, having been too long since his last haircut. She wondered what demons were haunting him—what nightmares were keeping him awake when his body craved rest.

He slept less than her—much less. Sleep was her refuge, her save haven. When the world seemed as if it were crashing down around her, she would close her eyes and allow everything to fade away. It was the only time she could pretend everything was perfect, that things were the way they once were. It did not have the same effect on him.

She rose from her bed, slipping her feet out of the covers and quietly making her way over to him. He didn't move even as she stood right in front of him. "Hey," she whispered, afraid of breaking the spell. He didn't respond. She dropped on her knees in front of him, moving his hair out of his eyes.

His eyes finally landed on her. He finally broke free. He was back in the real world. She massaged his scalp as she studied his eyes. He was such a broken man. What had possibly broken him so?

They didn't speak as pain and regret spread across his face like a pungent smell. He leaned his head forward, into her chest. She pulled him close.

Kaori Tenten was not a crier. She prided herself in barely doing so. She refused to be the average, weak female that society believed her to be. But sitting there in the dark, watching this man's sanity slowly break, watching his walls shatter, his façade of perfection drop in front of her eyes, she let the tears falls. She cried for him as she held him, as he refused to, as he bolted his eyes shut to block out the harshness of the world.

How could he let himself be happy when there were others that would never again get the chance—all because of him?

He had to ignore the voice in the back of his head that told him it was wrong to seek comfort from her. After all that he had done to her, how could he let her hurt for him? After all that he had taken away from her, how could he let her hold him?

If she knew the truth, if she knew what happened, she would never look at him again.

He couldn't bare that pain at that moment.

So he let her hold him. He let her push him back on the bed. He let her crawl in beside him and pull him once more into her arms. He didn't argue as she pulled the blankets around the both of them.

He was such a cruel, wicked man. He was a murderer, a killer. He was worse than the dirt beneath their feet.

Crickets chirped outside the open window. He looked out onto the city lights and the barely visible stars in the sky. He would try to forget just for the night. He shouldn't, it wasn't fair to not honor their memory. He would place that load back onto his shoulders in the morning. Tonight, he would let her take it. He was the warmest he had felt in a while.

Kaori traced his tattoos with her hands, the tears long having stopped flowing. Sasuke slept silently beside her. So silently that he looked dead rather than peaceful. The main tattoo on his body was black and rested right above his heart. It was a large crow that broke off into smaller crows as its body. She paused her tracing to study it.

Each tattoo had a meaning, didn't it?

She looked up to Sasuke's face to see him staring at her. He wasn't as asleep as she had thought. He looked down at where she had been looking. She didn't need to ask the question she was thinking.

"Crows symbolize death," he spoke, taking her hand in his own before placing it over his beating heart and looking into her eyes. "Each one of those crows is a soldier I've lost. It's over my heart because I will never, ever forget their sacrifice."

Kaori couldn't explain the emotion that filled her next. It was so painful that it choked her. She couldn't speak. His heart beat smoothly beneath her hand, showing none of the pain that was obvious in his voice. Her heart ached for him, reached out to him. She wished that she could take away his burden. Looking into his eyes, she realized that he would never allow it. He would take it to his grave.

She grabbed his hand in her own, bringing up to her face and leaning her cheek into it. "Here's one that you saved."

"I didn't—"

"Sh," she said with her lips against his hand, warm air fanning his skin. "I would not be here if not for you. You saved my life."

But for what? His eyes said, but his lips refused to speak aloud. For a miserable existence? For a job, a life that slowly kills you anyways?

"Are you happy?" He asked. She smiled against his palm, causing a warm feeling to enter his chest.

"I thank God every day."

* * *

Kaori awoke to light pouring in through the open window. She stretched, glancing at the portion of bed beside her. It was empty. Though, she really was not surprised. A door opened and Sasuke exited the bathroom wearing pants but lacking a shirt. She glanced at his exposed skin, really taking in his tattoos for the first time.

A hawk with spread wings stretched across his back. A Celtic cross lay across his right forearm. Bright red across his right ribs read, "We make war that we may live in peace." Kaori decided that she liked tattoos very much at that moment.

She looked down at her left arm, green leaves and red flowers climbing from her elbow up her shoulder and brushing her left clavicle. She liked his much more than her own. Sasuke's eyes followed hers, centering in on her tattoo. Would he judge her?

Sasuke quite liked the rich color against her pale skin. "It's pretty."

She raised her arms in front of herself—a defensive instinct. Could she open herself up again? To a person in the same profession as her late fiancé? Could she take the same gamble?

"I got it to cover my scar tissue," she blurted out before she changed her mind. She couldn't bare to look at him.

"That's what makes it beautiful," he said before lifting a shirt over his head, hiding the majority of his tattoos.

"I ran directly into a fire. It wasn't smart of me. I blatantly disregarded my captain's orders. I should have been discharged for my complete insolence."

He regarded her carefully as he straightened his t-shirt.

"I couldn't just turn my back," she said trying to get him to understand. "I couldn't leave the little girl to die." Her hands gravitated to her stomach as she got a far off look.

"The people there…their culture is different. They believe that if a male touches a girl without her father's permission, that she is tainted. None of the males could do it. Being an outcast would have been worse than death for her. I was the only female. I was the only one who could save her."

She looked up when she felt warmth on her side. He was sitting close enough to her that she could feel his warmth. He looked straight ahead. It was his own way of comforting.

"I didn't know I was pregnant at the time. My fiancé…he wanted a girl. He would have called her Rose."

_If she had lived past that night, _she didn't say. Sasuke prayed for the broken woman beside him. He prayed that she would one day feel joy again.

* * *

_Uchiha stepped into the bar and made his way over to the bartender. "ID?" he asked. Uchiha flashed him his military ID and the man said nothing about his young age. "What will it be?"_

_A hand slapped him on the back. "Uchiha!" Masato yelled as he did so, making Uchiha cough out the beer he had just drank._

_"Let me introduce you to the guys," he said as he motioned over to a table. Uchiha grabbed his beer and followed the rather strangely happy man. _

_"That's Inuzuka," he said motioning to a brunette with eyes filled with mischief. "He's my number one fighter." _

_"Hyuuga." He motioned to a brunette with startling green eyes. "He excels in tactical warfare and strategy."_

_"Aburame." He motioned to a dark haired man with beady, calculating eyes. "Smartest guy I've ever met."_

_"And Akimichi." He motioned to a heavier set man with friendly brown eyes. "Our weapons specialist."_

_Each man said their own form of hello as Masato introduced them. "Guys, this is Uchiha," he motioned to the slightly shorter man beside him. "The newest member of our team."_

_Small hands reached up to cover his eyes and a smile spread across his face. "Forgetting someone?" A velvety voice spoke._

_"How could I forget?" he said as he turned around, making her arms fall around his neck. He grinned down at her as he placed his hands on her hips._

_"Uchiha, this is the beautiful future Mrs. Masato." She giggled and turned to the Uchiha with a smile._

_"It's nice to meet you Uchiha. I would shake your hand if my hands weren't so full with this guy."_

_"She's a weapons specialist—currently undergoing extra training to become a sniper."_

_"Stop telling everyone!" She said as she swatted him playfully. "It's nothing special."_

_"She's modest too," he said with a cheeky grin. She rolled her eyes._

_"Excuse me, guys. This idiot owes me a dance," she said as she dragged Masato behind her to the dance floor. He looked all too eager to comply. Uchiha took Masato's place at the head of the table. Only later would he realize the irony._

_It felt weird, to be included in such an exclusive group. Where did his part fall in all of this? Where was his place here?_

_"So what's your specialty, kid?" Inuzuka was the first one to question him. He was the one to start the hidden interrogation, the hidden test. Uchiha was all too prepared._

_"I'm the guy that's going to patch you up when you get yourself shot."_

_That was all the guys needed to know. He was immediately accepted. They chatted around him casually. He soaked up their various war stories like a sponge hungry for water. They left out no details. After all, he was their doc. They would protect him with their lives._


End file.
